nothing happens until someone sells something: enabling your sales channel to effectively sell your...

Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something:

Enabling Your Sales Channel to Effectively Sell Your Products

Tom Evans

CompellingPM

@compellingpm

Copyright 2013. The Lûcrum Group, Inc.

DFW Product Group

• DFW Product Group is the premier product management and marketing association in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex

• 300+ active members

• 2013 - 2015 roadmap includes webinar series, networking mixers, and ProductCamp DFW

• Website: http://dfwproductgroup.org/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2796125

• Twitter: @DFWProductGroup

• Email: [email protected]

• Actively seeking new members, volunteers, and sponsors

Copyright 2013 - 2015. The Lûcrum Group, Inc. 2

Special offer from CompellingPM at the end of the webinar.


Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something:

Enabling Your Sales Channel to Effectively Sell Your Products

Tom Evans

CompellingPM

@compellingpm


Presentation Agenda

• Typical challenges with sales teams

• Why this happens

• What you (PM) can do to improve the situation


PM2 Levers of Control™


Executional LeversProduct

•Define Whole Product

•Effective Requirements

Price

•Value-Based Pricing

Place (Channel)

•Sales Tools

•Sales Enablement

•Channel Programs

Promotions

•Product Marketing Tools & Content

•Product Marketing Programs

Go-to-Market Strategy

Target Markets PositioningCompetitive

StrategiesMessaging Platform

Alignment to Business Drivers

Market Analysis

VOC Competitive Analysis Ecosystem Analysis

Poll Question 1

Who in your organization is responsible for making sure the sales team/channel effectively sells your products?

a) Product Management

b) Product Marketing

c) Marketing

d) Sales management

e) Not sure

Copyright 2013. The Lûcrum Group, Inc. 7

The Scenario

Product (Smart Credit) targeted for creditissuers to better manage credit lines andinterest rates based upon the credit risk of theirclients/prospects, resulting in more balancebuild and less delinquencies and write-offs.

“The events depicted in this presentation are fictitious. Any similarity to

any person or company, living or dead is merely coincidental."


The Lead

• Sales meets an IT Manager of credit card issuer at a trade show.

• IT Mngr – “I need a solution to detect payment fraud. Can you do it?”

• Sales – “Yes we can!” (liar)

• Sets face-to-face visit


The Prep

• Sales to Marketing – Create new collateral that shows “our payment fraud solution.”

• Sales to Sales Engineer – Help me with a new presentation about “our payment fraud solution.” And while you’re at it, create a new demo that shows “our payment fraudsolution.”


The Sales Presentation

• PowerPoint Presentation

– Let me tell you how great our company is.

– Now, let me describe our Evolutionary Statistical Algorithm (ESA) and how great it is.

• Demo - Now for another “cool” feature.

• IT Mngr – “Do you have feature A, B, C?”

• Sales – “Yes we do” (liar)

• IT Mngr – “Here is RFP, Send a proposal”


The Proposal

• Sales to Marketing – Create a new proposal template for payment fraud.

• Sales to Sales Engineer – Create answers for this RFP.

• Sales to Engineering – We must have features A, B, C in the product now to win this deal. We have a final demo in three weeks.


The Close

• IT Mngr – “The VP of Fraud decided to go with Competitor X, which is used by companies a, b, c for the exact solution we need.”

• Sales - Discount the price!

• Sales - Discount it some more!

• Sales - Send in the cavalry (executive team)

• Sales - Oops – we still lost it – Why?


The Why?

• Opportunistic v. Targeted Opportunity

– I.e., high unlikely to win to begin with.

• Never engaged executive that owns the problem

• Sales message was technical v. speaking to business needs


The Impact

• Wasted resources on long shot opportunity.

• New features in the product that nobody needs.

• A frustrated and irritated executive team.

• Confusion in the market place on what the company does.


The Real Why This Happens

1. That’s just the way sales people are.

2. They were never properly enabled with the right knowledge and tools.


The Real Why This Happens

1. That’s just the way sales people are.

2. They were never properly enabled with the right knowledge and tools.


PM

The Solution

Sales Enablement

Who owns it?

Who owns the message?

Product Marketing


Sales Enablement Defined

Sales enablement is a strategic, ongoing processthat equips all client-facing employees with theability to consistently and systematically have avaluable conversation with the right set ofcustomer stakeholders at each stage of thecustomer's problem-solving life cycle to optimizethe return of investment of the selling system.(Forrester)


Poll Question 2

How well can your sales team carry on valuable discussions with executive buyers in your target market?

a) Rarely meets with executives, mostly users & managers.

b) Sometimes meets with executives but not highly effective.

c) Often has highly effective meetings with executive buyers.

d) Should they be meeting with executives?


Evidence of Sales Enablement Problem

• In 43% of losses the reason was “Lost funding or lost to no decision (Forrester)

• 39% of executives say that meetings with salespeople are valuable. (Forrester)

Failure to Show Value


Goals of Sales Enablement

• Improve sales team productivity.

• Enables sales to have valuable conversations with the right buyers.

• Ensure consistency and clarity of messages.

• Focus on right opportunities.

• Provide better buying experience for prospects.

• Improve sales success!


Starting Point of Sales Enablement

• Deep Understanding of Customers

• Who they are

– Buyer Personas

• Why they buy

– Problems they want to solve

• How they buy

– What is their buying process


June 11 Webinar

http://compellingpm.com/developing-a-deep-understanding-of-your-target-markets-

the-starting-point-for-great-product-management-marketing/

http://compellingpm.com/developing-a-deep-understanding-of-your-target-markets-the-starting-point-for-great-product-management-marketing/

Sales Enablement (Base Components)

• Product Backgrounder

• Needs Discovery Guide™

• Executive Level Presentation

• Message Driven Demo™

• Competitive Weapons


Product Backgrounder

• Target Markets / Segments

• Market Needs / Challenges

• Buyer Profiles - Personas / Needs / Challenges / Goals

• Key Messages– Value Proposition

– Points of Differentation

• Talk Track


Needs Discovery Guide

• Aka - Pain Sheets / Solution Development Prompters

• One per buyer role per market segment

– Challenges / Impact / Capability / Benefits

– Match to your sales methodology (if any)

• Use buyer’s language/terms


Executive Level Presentation

• Market / Buyer needs

• High level discussion of how your solution addresses needs.

– Remember the key messages

• Benefits / Value Proposition

• Case Study

• 10 to 15 slides


Message Driven Demo

• Communicates key messages.

• Show how buyers needs are solved.

• Build it as story.


Competitive Weapons

• Competitive Comparison Matrix

– Value/benefits oriented

• Competitive claims and your response

• Questions to raise competitive weaknesses

– Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)

• Don’t misrepresent or make false claims!

31Copyright 2013. The Lûcrum Group, Inc.

Poll Question 3

Which of these tools can you best use to have the biggest and quickest impact on sales team effectiveness?

a) Product Backgrounder

b) Needs Discovery Guide

c) Executive Level Presentation

d) Message Driven Demo

e) Competitive Weapons


Getting Sales Buy-in

• Have an executive sponsor (Sales VP/CEO).

• Train them and train them some more.

• Test them on their knowledge via certification process.

• Make the tools real (not ivory tower)

• Show how this will make them me their objectives

• Cannot be perceived as imposed by product/marketing


Closing Thoughts

• Train the sales team & then test them (certify)

• Review on a regular basis.

• Make sure marketing and the executive team participate.

• Use for sales channel.

• Much of info should already exist - MRD, Market Strategy, etc.

Enhances your role as market expert!Copyright 2013. The Lûcrum Group, Inc.

Go-to-Market Webinar Serieshttp://compellingpm.com/go-to-market-webinar-series-with-dfw-product-group/

Webinar Title Date

The Strategic Role of Product Management & Product Marketing in Driving Product Revenue & Success

Apr 23

Developing a Deep Understanding of Your Target Markets – The Starting Point for Great Product Marketing

June 11

Define a Powerful Go-to-Market Strategy That Sets Your Product Apart June 25

Great Requirements Form the Foundation for Successful Products July 16

Profitable Products Sell Value: Why Value-Based Pricing Wins August 13

From Messaging Nightmare to Messaging Delight: How to Create a Powerful Messaging Platform

Sept 17

Create Effective Sales & Marketing Tools That Actually Get Used By Sales & Prospects Oct 15

Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something: Enabling Your Sales Channel to Success Nov 19

Driving the Marketing and Sales Funnel to Close Deals: What Product Marketers Must Know and Do

Dec


My Next Webinar

Driving the Marketing and Sales Funnel to Close Deals:

What Product Marketers Must Know and Do

Dec xx, 2015


Upcoming Austin PM2 Training

• Optimal Product Management & Product Marketing

– Dec 7- 9

• AIPMM Certifications – Certified Product Manager (CPM)

– Feb 16 – 17

More dates/locations - www.280group.com


Free 1 Hour PM/PMM Consult

• First ten to submit information on form

• http://compellingpm.com/freeonehour/

• Please include background on topic or issue

• Must include company info (no Gmail)


http://compellingpm.com/freeonehour/

Thank You!

Tom Evans

CompellingPM

[email protected]

@compellingpm

www.compellingpm.com


mailto:[email protected]